Remember Fairstar the fun ship? Bon voyage to an Aussie cruise icon

P&O has been cruising in our waters since 1932, when the then-British company was the first to launch a passenger cruise originating in Australia - a seven-day itinerary that left Sydney, calling at Brisbane and Norfolk Island. So, at the very least, when the P&O Cruises brand disappears early next year, it will be the end of 90 years of holiday heritage. But, more than that, it also highlights some critical issues with the cruise industry in Australia at the moment.

Before we look at 2024, it's worth briefly remembering the history of P&O Cruises - the good, the bad, and the ugly - because it's quite a remarkable story.

P&O's original parent company first came to Australia under the name Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company in 1852, bringing the mail from across the world. After launching cruises from Sydney in 1932 with about 1100 passengers per ship, popular destinations included New Zealand, Fiji, and New Caledonia (have things really changed much in a century?), but then World War II brought a halt to the industry.

Many people may know the P&O brand for a different type of cruise that began after the end of the war - the ones that brought more than a million Britons to Australia as 'Ten Pound Poms', most of them on P&O ships. But eventually it was the Australian arm of the company that made a name for itself as a key part of our holiday industry. Remember "Fairstar, the fun ship", which was in operation from 1988 to 1997?

Over the past couple of decades, P&O cruises became a mainstay in our waters, particularly for families and the budget-conscious. This meant that often people, even keen cruisers, would look down their noses at it. Compared to other lines, P&O was seen as a cheap and tacky option - the Jetstar of the Seas, let's call it. But forget the snobbery because the numbers speak for themselves. It has been extremely popular.

The cost is just part of the appeal (even though it can actually end up pricier than you expect when you get on board and realise how much more you need to spend to get decent food, drinks, and entertainment). One of the other main reasons the company has been so popular is that it offers short and easy trips with a distinctive Aussie flair. And it's this that people are scared will be lost with this week's news.

When you think of cruises from Australia, the first image that may come to mind are international journeys to countries like New Zealand, Vanuatu, or Fiji. But it can take days to reach your first international destination, meaning the trips are quite long. While P&O does do cruises to those destinations, take a look at their upcoming itineraries and you'll realise they often align with weekends and school holidays - such as the 4-night trip from Sydney to Moreton Island off Brisbane and back for $613 per person this July. Or the many themed cruises, like the 3-night Disco Glam trip from Sydney for $485 per person, or the 3-night Comedy Cruise from Brisbane for $499 per person. These ones don't even have destinations - you just bob around in the water far enough off the coast that the casino is legally allowed to operate (more than 12 nautical miles from shore, if you were wondering).

This is what many Aussies want. They don't need exotic destinations or expensive cruises that use up all their annual leave. They just want, as the memorable advertising from the 1990s promised, a fun ship. The big question is whether this is still going to be the offering when the P&O branding disappears.

Everything stays the same until March next year when Carnival, which has owned the Aussie cruise line since 2003, will refit two of P&O's three ships with the Carnival branding, while the third one will leave the fleet. In the short term after that, the biggest changes for previous P&O passengers (other than different signage) will be a new app that can be used to book things like dining and excursions, and membership within the Carnival loyalty program.

But because Carnival already has one ship based here, with another operating half the year, that's up to four ships it will have doing cruises from Australia, with the potential to reposition more here now they're all operating under the same name. The Carnival bosses have said one of the big reasons for the merger is that it's financially harder to run a cruise line with the inflexibility of just three ships, so I think that could mean some changes to the itineraries and ships in coming years.

Another of the main reasons given for sunsetting P&O also foreshadows changes - that Australian regulations and prices make this the most expensive place to run a cruise. Some other lines have recently cancelled or altered Australian journeys because of this, so it wouldn't be a surprise if there are some cost-cutting measures or increased fares from Carnival at some point too.

So, questions still remain. Will this mean more floating theme cruises that don't use much fuel (a huge cost)? Or will it mean itineraries to ports that have cheaper fees? Will the Aussie atmosphere of P&O Cruises be taken over by the more American style of Carnival? Or will it all stay roughly the same?

What we do know is that an icon of the Australian tourism industry is coming to an end after more than 90 years, and not everybody will be onboard with that.

You can see more on Michael's Time Travel Turtle website.